Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Where’s the Digital Experience? by Nick Halter at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal “He doesn’t really have that true ominchannel retail experience,” said Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough. “He doesn’t have that experience of shopping on cell phones and tablets. All this has become so popular in the last two years, when he hasn’t really been involved in retail.” Read more

Polaris CEO on Cornell: “A real high-energy guy” “Wish I could buy stock in Target” by Sam Black at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal. “Brian Cornell is “one of those rare examples of somebody who can come on the board and be universally respected and appreciated for their contributions, by the management team, the other members of the board and myself,” Wine said. “If you talk to people that have worked with him or for him, he creates followers wherever he goes, and I expect he’ll do the same at Target.” Read more

“New Target CEO Could Make Up To $36.6 million” by Patrick Kennedy at Star-Tribune. “Target said Cornell’s base salary will be $1.3 million, which is $200,000 less than his predecessor Gregg Steinhafel received as a base. Cornell will also be eligible for a performance bonus of up to $1.95 million…He is also being given Target stock that is currently valued at $12.75 million, including an initial stock grant worth of $3.75 million and a grant valued at $9 million in January 2015. To cover the incentives Cornell is leaving at PepsiCo, Target will give him another batch of shares worth $19.25 million minus the stock he is eligible to retain from PepsiCo” Read more

“Choice of CEO proves Target’s chief target is food” by Thomas Lee at SF Gate. “Target CEOs have always been merchandisers, albeit ones cut from the company’s department store heritage. The retailer is still getting a merchandiser – but someone who focuses on food instead of clothing.” Read more

Interview: Charlotte Bus. Journal Interviews Family Dollar CEO by Jennifer Thomas. “We’ve met before (Dollar Tree CEO), but we didn’t know each other well. I remember saying to myself, ‘I think we were similar in the way we were brought up and the way we think about the retail business.’ He’s a retailer through and through, cares a lot about the customer, cares a lot about people, wants to do the right thing for his teams, wants to drive shareholder value.” Read more

“CNBC’s Survey On Retail Survivors In 25 Years” by Craig Jones at Benzinga. “Home Depot and Lowe’s will be around in 25 years, because we are still going to live in houses and condos, but the merchandise is going to shift to connected home type devices. Amazon.com also found a place among the survivors in this survey.” Read moreSee the CNBC video

“Long Island Wants to Designate new Costco as “Tourist Destination” for Tax Incentive Purposes” at New York Post. “Queens Councilmember Costa Constantinides just announced a new effort to ensure Walmart will not be allowed into a proposed development in Astoria Cove…Meanwhile, out on Long Island…they’re trying to bribe Costco into opening a store in Oceanside. So determined is the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, it’s working overtime to get around state laws that prevent tax breaks for retailers. The agency’s solution? According to Newsday, it plans to make Costco eligible by defining it as a “tourist destination.” Read more

“How I was able to board a plane and fly to New York using my Costco card as ID” by Chris Peterson at The Blaze. “I explained when I got to the podium that I had lost my drivers license while flying down to Dallas. For the sake of the experiment, I told them I had no government form of identification on me. They called over a supervisor, who asked, “Do you have anything else? Perhaps a Costco card?” I did! After showing my Costco card, they scribbled on the boarding pass like normal and I got in line to remove my sandals” Read more

“Unwanted Gift Cards Are Worth Millions–These Guys Are Building An Empire With Them” by Karsten Strauss at Forbes. “Inside a dim office secured by a sensor lock, eight young men in yarmulkes sit before computer screens sifting through tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards. Toiling under a latticed ceiling, the workers (some in their late teens) field orders to buy preowned cards online, fetching each meticulously catalogued item from the company’s man-size vault, where at least $3 million worth wait for new owners at any given time.” Read more

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